The Fishing Resort on Lac La Croix

‘Come Here for the Food,
Stay Here for the Fishing’

Our lodge is the heart of our operation… Imagine a beautifully rustic lodge nestled just feet from the water’s edge. Our spacious lodge holds our dining room, lounge, office, small trading post complete with tackle. Comfortable rocking chairs by the beautiful stone fireplace invite you to an evening of fishing tales or roasting marshmallows for s’mores!
The big screen T.V. has seen many rival guests cheering for their hometown teams! Basketball and hockey playoffs rule in the spring, and Football Fans cheer in the fall. Hor de vours and good old fashioned popcorn nights are often found in the Lodge. Our hat collection is a tradition in itself: hats adorn the walls of the lounge area dating back to 1965 – the opening year of the lodge on Lac La Croix. When you sign and hang your hat, it means you’ll be back!
The lodge’s large black leather sofas, and over-sized corner chairs, have often engulfed many a fisherperson for an afternoon siesta… Located between the lounge and the dining room is where an evening hot chocolate, coffee, or libation can be enjoyed in front of the beautiful stone fireplace area.

Wilkins Bay Cottage

We are a boat in or fly in Fishing Lodge on the water’s edge of Lac La Croix, Ontario.

We are just over the border (by boat out of Crane Lake, MN). Complete with cottages, boats, motors, meals and guides. We offer Housekeeping or American Plan Packages. The packages can be guided or unguided. We boast some of the finest small mouth bass fishing in the world and play host to trophy northern, walleyes a plenty, lake trout and crappie. Largemouth and rainbow trout lakes are just a short portage in for a great “day trip” from the lodge.

We use 16’ Lund Boats with swivel seats, 30 & 40 horsepower, electric start 4 strokes and all boats are equipped with a bow mount, foot control trolling motor. The dock hands will automatically clean your boats daily, fill your tank daily and keep you in fresh batteries for the trolling motor… not to mention cleaning and freezing your fish. We offer every amenity possible to make your stay easy, comfortable and memorable. We serve 3 gourmet, home cooked meals per day in our lake side dining room along with breads/rolls and pastries…every evening meal is 4 course and chef approved. We welcome every guest with north woods hospitality that includes homemade cookies, bars, tea, lemon-aid and hot coffee. We also offer wi-fi service throughout the lodge and all cottages. Some say they come for the food and stay for the fishing! World class fishing with the comforts of home are found on the shores of Lac La Croix.

It’s All About Fishing
So Many Species – In One Great Lake!

The smallmouth bass are not native to Lac La Croix or the surrounding area. Today however, they are one of our most abundant species. Bill Zup Sr. introduced the smallmouth bass to the area lakes in 1942 by releasing fry into them. We now refer to this as “The smallmouth bass population explosion”. The border waters between Ely, Minnesota and just north of Lac La Croix are home to one of the world’s largest smallmouth bass populations!

It’s all about fun when your talking about smallie fishing: the fight of a smallmouth on top water in our cold northern shield lakes is a thrill a minute! They generally spawn the first week of June, and you can find them top water from the end of May until the end of June. A favorite bait? Fill your tackle box with 4″ and 5″ Baby Bass colored plastic worms, some “o” rings and hook them “whacky” style… it just doesn’t get any better! In July, August, and September they are easy to roust up from the cooler waters with tube jigs, and deep running crank baits. Baby bass, motor oil, pumpkin seed, natural greens and crayfish colors work great!

Walleye fishing in the area is fairly simple… yet there is nothing simple about the taste of a walleye shore lunch! The spawn takes place shortly after ice out, in the faster moving waters. 3/8 ounce lead head jigs, tipped with a minnow seem to be their favorite lunch fare. Mid June moves them onto the large reefs and points. Always fish the points with the wind blowing the bait fish into them for your best walleye fishing. This season saw a record number of 10 lb. plus walleyes on La Croix! The hottest colors seem to be chartreuse, black, and white. Also toss some 1/4 oz. jigs into the tackle box along with the ever faithful Mepp’s Spinners, Little Joe Spinners, and Lindy Rigs.

You can time this spawn with the area lake ice outs. Northern Pike tend to spawn in shallow weedy bays. Large Stick Baits, Buck Tail Spinners, Buzz Baits and Spoons are your “go to” baits to be used at the edge of these weedy bays and points. It is not uncommon while fishing for walleye and small mouth bass to have a northern pike attack your catch as you real it in to the boat, and the angler gets a two for one! We have heard this tale numerous times! As the season progresses, and the water temperature warms, northern pike are found in sunken weed beds and on the reefs. They do come shallow again in the fall and our trophy northern pike season is fantastic during the month of September.

Lac La Croix is home to an abundant population of Lake Trout. Lake Trout on Lac La Croix during our season can be found best off of deep structure. Depth finders are your best tool in finding these impressive fish. White 1oz. jigheads, white plastic fluke minnows, and a chunk of cisco are our favorite way to chase Lakers. Many people will also use bucktail jigs, spoons and airplane jigs. The most important thing to remember when picking out tackle for Lake Trout is having some weight behind the lure.

Sturgeon are a bottom feeder, and are generally found in deep channels, and river bottoms. They have a prehistoric look to them… and what a fight! Many are caught by walleye and northern anglers. They are a very oily fish, and are delicious when smoked. Usually caught by accident… but make a great story!

Other species caught include Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Crappie, and many more.

Our Boat & Motor Specs

Our new 16′ or 17′ Lund boats with floors and swivel seats are an anglers dream. All are equipped with 30 HP or 40HP electric start, Mercury, Yamaha or Honda motors and bow mount foot controlled electric trolling motors with unlimited battery supply.